Insights on Sufism by E. L. Levin

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Hypocrisy

May the peace of God be with you, now and always. Sometimes as we develop from childhood to maturity we discover that certain actions will or will not get us what we want, and we learn how to adapt ourself to situations so that we do get what we want. We learn to say what needs to be said to achieve our goals, we learn to manipulate, to lie, to be two-faced, we learn to say something other than what we actually think. Schizophrenics often have difficulty separating what they do from what the voices in their heads tell them to do, they do what the voices say, causing terrible problems.

Some who are sane, some apparently normal people have learned that certain thoughts and feelings have to be suppressed, they present what is socially or politically correct even if they disagree, then when they are alone or with a group of likeminded people, they say what they really think. This is hypocrisy which has been described as Satan’s sin, a great sin. Hypocrisy means thinking one thing and saying something else, making others think we believe something we do not in order to achieve our ends.

Those who think this kind of hypocrisy is legitimate, because it is useful for their own purposes, believe this is a way to acquire what they want, things of value. In fact, it is not true, hypocrisy prevents something, it stops the growth of the individual. Even when it is defined by a specific conflict, this hypocrisy supports duality, partnering the overriding sense of duality itself which needs to be eliminated. Most people fail to realize what hypocrisy does on this path of self-discovery, this path requiring a deep understanding of what goes on inside us. When we do what is right for appearance’s sake, without any attachment to what is right, we have no love for it, we love only our desires.

The first thing we have to recognize is the truth of right and wrong; if we do not love what is right we have to learn what it is and learn to love it. In other words, we have to change who we are, a problem; changing who we are is not easy, becoming something other than we are is not easy. To go on this path, to have what God has intended for us, to reach up to the truth, we have to overcome this hurdle—as long as there is no unity, no oneness within ourself, there cannot be unity among ourselves, among our fellow human beings and with God.

If we conceal aspects of ourself from everyone else, sometimes we might be concealing these things from ourself too. Why would we hide something from others that we expose to ourself, that we keep hidden to relish at certain times in dark, hidden places? What is it that lets this happen, what is actually going on inside us to create dark corners, to be different privately from the way we are openly, how do we change that? We have to recognize that we do this before we can correct it. Only when we are so open that we look each other in the eye with nothing to hide, only then can we truly see ourself.

As long as we have things to hide from other people they cannot see into us, and the same things which keep others from seeing into us blocks our ability to see, to see accurately. What we think we are hiding from others is what we are hiding from ourself; what we hide from ourself, what we keep from ourself is the ability to see reality. The duality of hypocrisy contributes to this inability. When we know we do not feel what we are supposed to feel, we know we must change.

This is the work of the path, getting rid of that part of us which is not the truth, getting rid of that part of us which is not right. We need to straighten up, walk the right path and walk it easily, honestly, with good will, with positive intentions. This little bit of work, this little bit of understanding can take us a long way. Understand we have to be at peace within ourself, and recognize that this peace allows us to expose who we really are to others, without fear, without shame, without agenda, then we turn to God without hyprocisy.

God is known in the Hebrew scriptures as ‘I am that I am.’ He is only One. To know this One we must be merged in One. Our hypocrisy must be eliminated, we cannot scheme or manipulate, we have to let go of thinking that way. There is a difference between being pure and being naïve; we have to understand the treachery of the world, see it and acknowledge it when we see it, but we cannot let it be part of us, we do not have to believe that for success in this world we must use such techniques. We need a group or community where people are not afraid, where they can be honest with each other, where they can let down their defenses and be open, show their true selves. Only when the true self is displayed can we begin to know it. As we begin to know the true self we begin to know the truth.

We have to be smaller individually, smaller as a community, so small we fit easily into each other. There is room for this if everything we have hidden inside filling our cup, leaving no room for anyone else, making us too big, if all that is emptied. When we are without motive, when we do not scheme we become small, we are empty, there is room for Him. This is a key unlocking the doors of reality, one of the keys making Him available. When He is available we will be entirely empty, allowing Him to fill that space, but if we hold onto hypocrisy we are holding the devil’s tail. As long as we hold onto evil, how can we possibly hold onto God? We have to make the choice, the choice is clear.

The great teachers and sages often talk about this. They tell us not to untie every little knot, but to pull the whole thing out by the roots and forget about it, pull each thing out by the roots. If our thought patterns are too complicated, give them up. We are not complicated beings, not meant to be complicated, we are meant to be pure, we are meant to be clean, to be straight. The more we complicate things, the more difficult it is for us to be pure and clean and straight. This is not a complicated path, it is a straight path. It is called the straight path because it does not zigzag, it is direct. We have to be direct, we have to be people of the straight path, of straight action, we have to be people of love.

We should set the right intention encompassed by love. When love fills a room there is no space for anything else. Love numbs the lower self, it tames it; love lights a fire which the lower self backs away from, allowing grace to shine. It is a light, a fire, a cleansing, the cleansing we look for, the cleansing love which does away with duality. We no longer have to be divided, we are consistent in our speech, in our manner, in our love. Others can expect us to behave a certain way, to react a certain way, they do not have to fear how we will be today, how we will be this afternoon or the next time they see us.

We need to be comfortable enough with each other to know we are a comfort for each other. This starts in our home, we need to be a comfort for each other at home, we need to know when we turn to our spouse, that person is a rock for us, we need to be a rock for each other. The ability to comfort moves out from our family to our circle of friends. The circle of true friends is the circle of those who are a comfort for each other, sanctuary for each other. We become the place we can live within in safety, in love, in protection. Small, easy things change our life, change our attitudes, change who we are, our perspective, the way we act and feel in our daily life. If we can take ourself to that level of comfort our center is stronger.

We know what a locked box is, the sort of box we should put our hypocrisy in; however, with all the problems of the world we go searching for the key to open it up again because we think we need it. We should reach a point where we no longer need it, reach a point where we do not have to join all the barking dogs, we can walk away and let the dogs bark. Walking away from a group of barking dogs, stepping away from the fray is difficult, letting other people argue, letting them offer their opinions without being involved, without telling them how they are right and how they are wrong is difficult.

We have stories about wise people who do not talk, do not respond. There is a story about a group who had come to pray at a roadside mosque. While they were sitting after prayers another man came to pray who prayed facing the wrong direction, but no one said anything. When they stood to pray at the next time of prayer, facing the right direction, he understood his mistake and joined them. This was done without a word, without a reprimand, it was done through action, it was done by doing what is right. We must incorporate our intention in our action; actions are stronger than words. We must incorporate our intention in our resonance; our resonance is stronger than words. We can feel each other, know where we are, know where each of us is. We should know we are comfortable with each other, feel we are comfortable with each other, easy with each other. We should know that love exists, we should understand the sanctuary of our family and spread that understanding, that love, one person at a time. It does not have to be done with words at first, people recognize when something special is happening, they ask why, then we can talk about it because they have recognized there is something else.

Until people recognize something else exists and have a taste for it, it is difficult to bring them to this path, it could even be dangerous. Nevertheless we should know that bringing others along is part of what He has given us to do, and once we know it is our responsibility, it will happen. We can help just by being the way we are. It is a great blessing to have this in our life, it is a gift He has granted to give us access to Him. To understand this and create praise for Him is the reason the prophets were sent, the reason the wise, holy beings and His friends were sent. How do we become His friend? We become His friend by being a friend of His friend, by respecting His friends, listening to His friends, listening to those who have listened to Him.

May we begin to understand ourself, study ourself and be one within ourself. May the words which come from our mouth be straight, clean and pure, without motive, filled with love. May the blessings that come from this love bathe us in His love.